Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Alexander Steele and the Legacy of Death Chapter 4 Treasure Hunt

A Philly Murder Mystery

Chapter 4

Treasure Hunt

The second after he walked Julia to
her car Steele went to work. With detective Vance on vacation Steele had no one
at police headquarters downtown that he could call for help so he did the next
best thing; he walked back inside the club and asked Stan hack into the police
database. Before Stan could begin they needed to make a few calls. With the
information Julia provided Steele’s cold case had begun to heat up.

Every good detective knows that
solving a case can come down to the smallest detail. So in order to conduct a
proper inch by inch search of the barber shop Steele needed a small army.

With Stan’s help they began calling
friends he knew were very loyal to him. Friends who would keep their mouths shut
about the hunt for the gold. News around Philly always traveled fast.

The last thing he needed was a
bunch of wanna be treasure hunters descending on his property like a swarm of
locust.

Steele’s first call was to Shakia.
He knew her better than anyone, so when he told her he had given the workmen
the rest of the day off her reaction was predictable. Ten minutes after the
call Shakia came strutting through the front door of the Inner Sanctum wearing
white shorts and a hot pink blouse. After all their years together Steele was
still captivated by how beautiful and sexy she was. Shakia had more important
things to focus on; she decided to forego the usual greeting. Standing directly
in front of Steele she briefly examined his face before gently placing the back
of her hand on his forehead.

“Hum, no temperature. That’s good.
Shakia looked into his eyes for a moment then playfully tugged on Steele’s arm.
“Come on baby, I’m sure the doctors will be able to find out what’s wrong with
you.”

Stan sat at the bar sipping his
drink as he enjoyed the show. He chuckled as Shakia made fun of Steele’s plan
to hunt for the hidden gold. After she felt she had made her point Shakia
released his arm and placed her hands on her hips.

“Alexander Steele have you lost
your damn mind?” Not waiting for an answer Shakia continued. “How do you expect
me to meet the deadline for finishing this project if you continue sending the
workers away? Hidden treasure, really?!” She waved her index finger from side
to side.

“Okay Alex, no more Indiana Jones
DVD’s for you.”

Stan laughed so hard he nearly fell
off his stool. Even Steele chuckled a little. He placed his hands on her
shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Okay baby, you’ve had your fun.”
Shakia wasn’t done. She fumbled around inside her little white pocket book and
pulled out her blackberry. Shakia waved it around as she spoke.

Her tone had softened, it was as if
she was pleading with him to understand the position he was putting her in.

“Alex, baby, you’re killing me. You
want this place ready to open by Labor Day weekend but this is the second delay
in a week. Now I have to spend the afternoon rescheduling deliveries like the
sound system, light fixtures, carpets and a half dozen other things.”

Steele’s crew of volunteer treasure
hunters was starting to arrive. When he noticed Johnny, the Philosopher and
Frankie walking in Steele thanked them for coming and ask Stan to fill them in.
He took Shakia by the hand and led her to his booth where they could talk in
private. By the time he Steele finished talking to his girlfriend Tara and
Leroy had joined the rest of the group. Steele walked Shakia to her car and
gave Stan final instructions before turning to his friends. The hunt for the
gold was on.

It was after five when Steele returned
to the club from next door. The Alex Steele and company grid search of the old
barber shop was a bust so he thanked everyone and came back to the Inner
Sanctum. Over the years Steele had brought Stan in on many cases to cut down
legwork. He knew from experience that when Stan flashed that wide grin he had
found something juicy.

Today Stan was grinning like a
crackhead who had just found five dollars worth of loose change inside the
couch cushions. He spun the laptop around in Steele’s direction when he saw him
headed his way.

“Jackpot brother!” Stan began
giving Steele the rundown as he slid into his usual seat. “Check it out baby.
That’s the police report from the double murder. According to the medical
examiner’s report the murders took place on a Saturday night but” he paused
briefly for effect “the bodies weren’t found till Tuesday morning. The barber
shop doesn’t open on Monday’s so nobody missed old Romone and as far as I can
tell Rosa wasn’t reported missing either. Even
if they were, the cops won’t look for them until after they were missing for
more than 72 hours.”

Steele stroked his mustache as he
stared at the computer screen. “Interesting,” he mumbled, “why didn’t Rosa’s sister report her disappearance?”

Stan didn’t pay much attention to
Steele’s question. He shrugged his shoulders and continued. “There’s more, the
bodies were found on the roof top. You guys were looking in the wrong place.”

Just then Sugar Bear came walking
down the aisle holding his hand against his right jaw.

“That bastard pulled my tooth.”

Stan laughed, “Look at the bright
side, brother. You can put that tooth under your pillow tonight and the tooth
fairy will leave you a whole quarter.”

Everyone laughed except Sugar Bear
who was now looking at Stan as if he wanted to choke him with his bare hands.

Steele had been waiting for hours
to ask Sugar Bear about the necklace. When he did Sugar Bear wasn’t very
co-operative. Holding his jaw with one hand he used his free hand to pat his
chest.

“Oh, I really can’t talk about it.
It’s personal. Why are you just asking me about this now?” Steele was surprised
at Sugar Bear’s reluctance to answer the questions. Keeping his eyes on Sugar
Bear he slowly leaned back in his seat.

“So what you’re saying Sugar Bear
is that you would rather talk to the people down at unemployment than to me.”
Once Sugar Bear heard Steele’s remark and noticed the WTF look on Steele’s face
he had an immediate change of heart.

“Well, uh, okay, I guess it won’t
hurt if I told you a little something boss. See I’m a member of a secret
society called the Crystal
of the Seventh Ray. Now before you guys’ imagination starts running away from
you let me explain. We don’t drink goat’s blood or sacrifice chickens or dance
around naked in Fairmount during the full moon and stuff. This secret group has
been around for over a hundred years. It’s basically a group of astrologists.
We study the planet Uranus and the connection and effect it has on us. The 7th
ray is the final light of the crystal on the chain we wear. It has power.”

Sugar Bear ignored the question.
“The necklace is how we identify other members.

During the spring and summer when
the weather is nice we use high power telescopes to stargaze.”

Steele and Stan looked at each
other. Steele pointed to the computer, “that’s why they were on the roof that
night. Thanks Sugar Bear, take the night off. I hope you feel better tomorrow.”

Sugar Bear took a seat next to
Steele. “Thanks boss but I want to know what’s going on here.”

Stan filled Sugar Bear in then
explained that the bodies laid on the roof exposed to the harsh sun and rain
for several days.

“According to this report there was
also a pretty bad thunder storm during that weekend and rigor mortis had set
in. All the prints had either been wiped or washed away by the rain. There were
traces of vomit but it didn’t match either of the victims.”

Stan leaned back away from the
computer and grimaced. “Damn, this is some pretty gruesome shit. Says here that
her throat was cut and he was shot twice at close range. A straight razor and a
forty-five were found at the scene. That must have been one hell of an
argument.”

Steele shook his head slowly, “that
explains why nobody called the police that night. They may have heard the
argument and the gun shots but nobody saw anything. The neighbors couldn’t tell
where the shots came from and they may have mistaken the gunshot for thunder.”

Steele got up and headed for the
front door. “Hey boss, where you going?”

Steele shouted back, “Where you
think I’m going?” He pointed to the ceiling; “I’m going back next door to the
rooftop.” Steele stopped and swiveled toward Sugar Bear. “Hey, what did you do
with those magnets?”

Stan gave Steele an inquisitive
look while Sugar Bear got up and fished around inside the trash can behind the
bar. Steele sniggered and shook his head at Stan, “Man don’t ask, I know you.
If I tell you you’ll only make things worse.”

Once Steele had the magnets he
continued on his hunt for more clues.

Since Steele’s last trip to the old
building, storm clouds had moved in. Steele could feel tiny sprinkles of
drizzle on his face as he surveyed the dark angry clouds. He needed to move
quickly before the heavier rains began.

After twenty years of neglect the
roof was in extremely bad shape. What remained of the blacktop was covered with
old ash gray gravel. The remnants of an old rusted telescope and two wooden,
weather beaten beach chairs were all that remained of Romone’s makeshift
observatory.

Navigating his way around the roof
was a treacherous affair for the inquisitive detective.

One false step and Steele could end
up in the hospital with a broken back or worse. Steele held the magnets outward
inside his opened hand as he gingerly made his way around the creaking rooftop.
The detective was looking for any clue that could help him solve the twenty
year old mystery. After nearly falling through two of the weakest spots the
powerful magnates slid off his hand and landed about two feet away. Steele
finally spotted a small black metal key case nestled against the brick chimney.

Once he was back inside the club
Stan and Sugar Bear watched as Steele struggled to force the rusted key holder
open. After a couple of tugs he whipped out his pocket knife and pried the top
backwards until he heard a pop. Steele held up a bronze key with the logo of a
lion’s head and paw. Beneath the paw was an image of a world globe and the
initials RBC.

He tossed the key over to Stan,
“you recognize this symbol?” Steele asked.

After giving it the once over he
shook his head and handed the key over to Sugar Bear. He held it up to the
light. “No man can’t say that I do. Looks like a safety deposit key to me.”

Sugar Bear handed the key back to
Steele who promptly tossed it back to Stan.

“See what you can find out, will
ya. If you need me I’ll be at Laura’s Lounge trying to find out what happened
to Julia’s ex-husband. That’s one of Slick’s hangouts, maybe he heard
something.”

Steele paused at the back door then
snapped his fingers before walking back to Stan. He pulled his wallet from his
back pocket and handed Stan his American Express Black Card. “Hey do me a favor
will ya Stan? Order Shakia a dozen of those red and yellow tropical flowers,
Hawaiian Anthurium or something like that from the florist Paul Beales over on Ogontz Ave.”

Steele quickly jotted down
something on a piece of scrap paper. “Here, have the florist add this note.
Pick them up and drop them off at my place. Make sure you leave them in plain
sight; you know somewhere where she won’t miss them.”

Stan starred at the card and note.
“Did I miss something Steele? I thought Shakia was mad at you?”

Steele shook his head and smiled.
“No, Shakia’s a business woman, she’s upset with the delays but after hours
when the sun goes down she shuts that side of herself off. Trust me, she’ll
show.”

Friday

Chapter 5

Curse of the Coins

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